Pediatric Feeding Guide
FOODS APPROPRIATE FOR BABIES 6 TO 8 MONTHS
Mashed bananas or small slices Graham Crackers Soft cooked vegetables, peeled Cooked cereals Canned pears or peaches Cottage Cheese Toast; lightly buttered Applesauce Arrowroot cookies Cheerios Mashed Potatoes Yogurt
FOODS APPROPRIATE FOR BABIES 9 TO 15 MONTHS
Apple, peeled and cut into eights Orange sections, peeled and loose membranes removed Egg, boiled, scrambled or poached Spaghetti with meat sauce Fish, without bones (also Geflite fish) Soft cooked pieces of chicken (diced or shredded) Smooth peanut butter (always spread thinly on bread or crackers) Peaches, ripe and peeled Carrots and other vegetables, cooked Tender meats; lamb, veal and some beef
FINGER FOODS NOT RECOMMENDED FOR CHILDREN 3 YEARS AND UNDER
*DIFFICULT TO DIGEST MAY CAUSE GAGGING *Corn Raw carrots or celery Grapes *Chocolate Hard Candies Olives *Baked Beans Popcorn Raisins *Raw Vegetables Nuts ****Remember: Even a 3 year old with teeth may not take the time to chew well. DO NOT take the chance! Especially with NUTS, RAISINS, or POPCORN!!! HOT DOGS or MEAT STICKS should be cut lengthwise, then crosswise. ****
FOOD TIPS FOR CHILDREN 2 TO 5 YEARS
Food, necessary for sustaining life, is also a focal point for the family; talking and sharing at meal time among family members, learning cultural values and practices, experiencing variety, new tastes, textures and smells, developing likes and dislikes, and sharing companionship with friends and relatives are all important.
DO’S AND DON’TS DON’T 1. Force child to eat everything on plate. 2. Force child to eat foods he/she does not like. 3. Punish child for not eating.
DO 1. Provide a balanced variety of nutritious foods. 2. Plan to make meal time pleasant—leave criticisms elsewhere. 3. Serve small amounts of food on plate. 4. As models, do not expect child to be more than what you are (or enjoy a variety of foods if you do not, or sample new foods if you do not, etc.) 5. Help child to try new and disliked foods by very small (1/2 tsp.) servings. 6. Praise child for trying foods and cleaning plate. 7. When there is an eating problem, assess the entire situation beginning with you own attitude about food and eating and your childhood experiences and how you feel about them now. Give us a call and talk things over.
HELPFUL HINTS ON FEEDING
Don’t be in a rush to start your baby on solid foods. In the first 6 months, breast milk or formula is a more important food than solids. There does come a point between the age of 4 to 6 months when you may choose to add solid foods to the diet. The first thing to start with is rice cereal. Start with a small amount, approximately one tablespoon, and mix it with a little formula or breast milk. Do not put the cereal in the bottle because the baby really needs to learn to feed from a spoon. A small infant spoon is preferred. The cereal can be offered at any time during the day that is comfortable for both mother and baby.
The baby can progress to fruits and vegetables next. Introduce new things slowly. Try each new fruit or vegetable for 4 to 5 days to see if it agrees with the baby. After the baby is doing well on cereal and a few fruits, it is fine to start giving baby vegetables. The last thing to introduce is the meats.
You may want to purchase a small food grinder or use your blender to prepare your own foods. The foods that you feed your family can be used to feed the baby. Most likely, you will not stop using processed baby food all together. When you purchase those little jars, read your labels carefully. Stay with the basic fruits, vegetables, and meats. Avoid combination meals. You get less protein per serving than if you combined a jar of meat and vegetables yourself. Avoid jars containing sugar and modified starches as major ingredients. Forget the baby dessert; babies do not need them anymore than we do. If you are nervous about making your own baby foods, start with some of the many soft or pureed grocery store foods that are available to you, such as unsweetened applesauce, cottage cheese, yogurt, and cream of rice cereal.
Your child develops tastes during the first few years that will carry on through later life. By avoiding heavily sugared or salted foods, you can possibly prevent a craving for unnecessary foods.
A child eats when hungry and will take just what is needed to maintain his/her growth rate. Servings should be small (as should the plates or bowl) so as not to be discouraging. If your child should reject a particular food, return to a favorite and the in a few days offer the new food again. It isn’t always easy to respect your child’s strong food dislikes, but it is important to try.
Most babies with 2 to 4 teeth are more receptive to lumpier foods. Regardless of age, babies do not need teeth to chew. Gums do and adequate job on soft foods. More chewy fruits and vegetables can be added as more teeth erupt.
TWO POINTS OF CAUTION
First: Respect your child’s ability to handle foods. For example, some infants gag and choke easily on solid foods and should not be pushed to use finger foods. Others do well much earlier, allowing more choices from the table. It is always wiser to be cautious than to have a serious choking spell.
Second: CHOKING If the child is choking (therefore is breathing), DON’T intervene. If the child is silent (not breathing), place the child head down on one’s lap. Give four sharp blows to the back. If this fails, give four chest thrust. Then repeat the back blow.
Infant Feeding Guide Foods 0-4 Months 4-6 Months* 6-8 Months 8-10 Months 10-12 Months Breast milk ,or 5-10 feedings 4-7 feedings 3-4 feedings 3-4 feedings 3-4 feedings Iron-fortified 24- 32 ounces 24-32 ounces 24-32 ounces 16-32 ounces 16-24 ounces Formula (offer cup) (offer cup) Cereals and NONE Boxed rice, oatmeal or All varieties of -Infant Cereal -Infant or cooked Breads barley (spoon-fed). No boxed infant cereal cereals sugar, fruit or honey except cereal with -Toast, bagel, or -Unsweetened cereals added. fruit or honey. crackers -Bread Mix 2-3 teaspoons with -Rice breast milk, formula, or (Twice a day) -Noodles and spaghetti water Fruit Juices NONE NONE - Fruit juice Any 100% Vitamin C Any 100% Vitamin C - Vitamin C fortified fortified unsweetened fortified unsweetened Try juice from a cup juice juice. 2-3 ounces daily 2-3 ounces in a cup 2-3 ounces in a cup
NONE NONE Strained or mashed: - Cooked, mashed Cooked vegetable Vegetables *winter squash,* sweet family vegetables pieces potatoes, peas, green - Junior Vegetables beans, and, *commercially prepared carrots, and *spinach. ½-1 jar or ¼ to ½ cup/daily *Good sources of Vitamin A Fruits NONE NONE - Fresh or cooked fruits: Peeled, soft fruit - All fresh fruits peeled mashed banana, wedges: bananas, and seeded applesauce peaches, and pears - Canned fruits, packed - Strained fruits (avoid in water or fruit juice fruit desserts) ½ to 1 jar or ¼ to ½ cup/day Protein Foods NONE NONE May offer: - Lean meat, chicken - Small tender pieces of - Lean meat, chicken, and fish (strained, meat, fish , or chicken and fish (strained, chopped, or small tender - Whole egg chopped) pieces) - Cheese, cottage - Egg yolk, yogurt, - Egg yolk, yogurt, cheese, and cottage cheese, mild cottage cheese, mild yogurt cheese cheese * It is recommended that breastfed infants be introduced to solid foods at about six months of age. For breastfed babies, ask your doctor about Vitamin D and fluoride supplements
SOME THINGS TO REMEMBER… Every baby is different. Consult your pediatrician or nutritionist to make sure your baby is getting what she/he needs.
Monday Monday
Add one new food at a time. Wait at least 5 – 7 days before you try another one.
Try not to feel pressured
to start solid foods early. This will give time for The Best Foods
Babies get all they need your baby to adjust to the new Plain vegetables A baby’s bottle is for in the first four to six food. Plain meats plain water and formula months from breast milk If your baby has a Plain fruits only, not infant cereal. Feed your baby small or formula. reaction, you know which Egg yolk amounts at first; make 100% fruit juice Avoid Kool-Aid, Hi-C, the food thin and soda, and fruit punch smooth by mixing it Unsalted crackers which are made of with a little breast milk, Rice mostly sugar, water, and formula or water. Use a Noodles food. baby spoon for feeding. Whole wheat bread Unsweetened cereals Buy plain meats, Plain yogurt vegetables, and fruits – Cottage cheese you get more for your money. You can make your own Foods to avoid: Combination Foods that Cause Choking in Young baby foods. Mixed dinners dinners like turkey Children Do not add Bacon, luncheon noodle contain a lot of sugar, honey, corn syrup, meats, Babies do better in water and starch fillers. butter, or salt to your Hot dogs the first formula year Mix meats and homemade baby food. Creamed vegetables on breast milk or vegetables together if Avoid your baby prefers them Fruit desserts iron – fortified infant homemade carrots, that way. Puddings Hot Dogs spinach, & beets in the Cookies, candy, Berries first year. cakes, and sweetened drinks Peanut Butter Ask your When your baby is a Popcorn nutritionist for more year old, offer whole (These foods are high in fat Nuts, Raisins information on preparing milk. and sugar and contain few Hard Candies your own baby foods nutrients for your money). Other firm chunks or
foods